Councils make £100m extra from parking 'through industrial use of CCTV spy-cars'

Communities secretary Eric Pickles attacks town halls for "daylight robbery"
of drivers, as survey reveals they are making more from parking charges and
fines

Councils are to be banned from using CCTV and “spy cars” to enforce parking restrictions on most roads by the Government's Deregulation BillPhoto: Alamy

By Tom Brooks-Pollock, and Press Association

6:01AM GMT 12 Dec 2014

Councils are using CCTV “spy cars” on an “industrial scale”, Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, has said, as new figures revealed that local authorities collected almost £100m extra in parking fines last year.

Mr Pickles accused town halls of the “daylight robbery” of drivers through “exorbitant” fines and charges, after a survey found that councils made one-fifth more “profit” from parking services in 2013-14, compared to the previous year.

The RAC Foundation released data from all 353 councils in England, showing they raked in £549 million parking “profit” last year, up by £89 million, or 19 per cent, on 2012-13.

The Government rounded on council “parking bullies” following the publication of the figures, with Mr Pickles blaming the widespread use of mobile CCTV cameras mounted on cars, which allow wardens to stalk the streets to record infractions by unwitting drivers.

Councils are to be banned from using CCTV and “spy cars” to enforce parking restrictions on most roads by the Government's Deregulation Bill, currently working its way through Parliament. But Mr Pickles decided to allow their continued use near schools, red routes, bus stops and bus lanes following appeals by safety campaigners.

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The “profit” figure is calculated by adding up income from parking charges and penalty notices, then deducting running costs.

Nearly half, or 44pc, of the 2013-14 “profit” total was raised by councils in London, the RAC Foundation said, with Westminster – which recorded a surplus of £51 million - Kensington and Chelsea, Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham and Wandsworth the worst offenders. Brighton and Nottingham were the only councils from outside the capital in the top 10.

While some of the increase was accounted for by rising income, the survey found, councils had also cut operating costs by one-tenth.

The data, analysed for the RAC Foundation by transport consultant David Leibling, came from the statutory annual returns that councils made to the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Mr Pickles said: "These official figures show how town halls are committing daylight robbery by ripping off drivers with exorbitant parking charges and unfair parking fines.

"The recent growth in fines is coming from the industrial use of CCTV spy cars allowed under laws introduced by the last government. This is why we have introduced a law before Parliament to stop these snoopers, as part of package of measures to rein in the town hall parking bullies and protect local shops."

Prof Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said that while he understood the financial pressures councils were under but said they had cut spending on road repairs even as “profits” had risen.

He added: "The bottom line is that parking policy and charges must be about managing traffic not raising revenue."

Councils labelled the report “misleading” and said Mr Pickles had u-turned by allowing exemptions to his camera car ban.

The Local Government Association said that just a small fraction – 2pc – of councils’ parking income came from camera car fines. They said that Mr Leibling’s report showed that income from parking fines had declined by £10 million, to £343 million last year.

Cllr Peter Box from the LGA said: “This misleading RAC Foundation report is yet again based on the deep-rooted misconception that councils make a profit from parking. On-street parking revenue is spent on paying for parking services and any surplus is spent on essential transport projects.

“This report shows parking fines have gone down and that councils have become more efficient at running parking services. This means councils can spend the extra income on filling potholes and tackling the £12 billion repair bill to bring our roads up to scratch.”

Westminster council attributed the figures to “huge demand for parking”.